The state parole board is considering releasing William LeVea more than a year before his earliest parole date.

LeVea is serving 6 to 18 years in prison after pleading guilty to aggravated vehicular
homicide and driving while intoxicated. He was accused of repeatedly smashing his car into Christopher Spack's pickup truck Nov. 20, 2009 on Route 370 in the Cayuga County town of Cato.

Starting in 1992, New York allowed early parole only for terminally ill patients.

But in a 2009 budget crisis, then-Gov. David Paterson said it could save the state $2 million in the first year to release up to 45 inmates early.

The measure was buried in the overall 2009 budget bill and won little fanfare as the state touted big changes to the 1970s Rockefeller Drug Laws.

The $131.8 billion budget was negotiated entirely by Democrats in the brief time the party controlled the Senate as well as the Assembly and governor's office.

The law was also expanded to allow early parole eligibility for inmates convicted of
violent crimes, including first-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter and sex offenses. Those inmates must have served at least half their sentences.

In the decade before the law changed, the number of inmates over the age of 55 who
were incarcerated had more than doubled from 1,500 to 3,300, according to a
memo in support of the bill.

Older inmates are generally the most seriously ill and require the most expensive
medical care. They also have the lowest recidivism rates, the memo said.

The law was intended to give compassionate release to the inmates whose illnesses were so serious, they no longer posed a threat to public safety.

The state was spending $12 million a year on prescription medication for inmates and
millions more on medical procedures for cancer, liver failure, kidney failure and other ailments.

The state estimated it cost $150,000 per year to retain a significantly ill, debilitated
or terminal inmate.

Since 1992, 410 inmates have been allowed out of prison early under compassionate release laws. There were 42 requests last year and 13 so far this year.

Janice Grieshaber Geddes, whose daughter was killed by a paroled violent felon in
1997, advocated for "Jenna's Law," which required first-time felons to serve at
least 6/7ths of their sentence and called for at least 18 months of
parole-type supervision after release.

She said people are hurt when the state Legislature makes quick budget cuts without thinking through the consequences.

"I think it was clearly done to save money," she said. "I absolutely think that was Paterson's goal. He wanted a budget that was going to pass and would include a lot of cuts and this was a way of cutting."

LeVea is up for a medical parole hearing in the week of April 21, said Taylor Vogt, a spokeswoman for the state prison system.